Lowepro has teamed up with Nik software to give away a South African Photo Safari Experience of a lifetime.

Led by famed photographer John Paul Caponigro beginning in September 2011, this private photo safari will take you on a wide-ranging exploration of South Africa. The safari will focus on photographing wildlife in the world-famous Sabi Sand Game Reserve and the many landscapes of the Cape Town region.

Sponsored by Artsy Coutre, Blurb, Datacolor, Graphic Authority, Lowepro, Nik Software, and Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and organized by renowned tour operator Eyes on Africa, you’ll experience some of Africa’s finest wildlife photography opportunities, great accommodations, and expert guiding. These two locations have been selected to create a private safari geared specifically toward serious wildlife, landscape and scenic photography.

Enter the sweepstakes, and read more about the partners and the photo safari at www.safarisweepstakes.com

Some days are pure magic. All the elements align to create the perfect day on the tundra. Saturday was like that. The air was crisp, cold and clean. The skies were clear. And the polar bears were both plentiful and active. It was a day that had even the tour guides excited.

Our Tundra Buggy experience started with a bang. A couple of curious bears had come right into the staging area while the guides were trying to load all the Buggys. While they seem to move slowly and nonchalantly, this was nothing to take lightly. When they want to, polar bears can cover quite a distance in just a matter of seconds. So we waited while they were encouraged to move back to a safe distance and then set out. Not more than a minute or two out of the yard, we had our next encounter — which set the tone for the entire day.

We were blessed with sightings of over 30 bears that day and even saw one bear actually swimming in the water. This is rare for this time of year as the bears are still conserving their energy and fat stores while waiting for the ice to freeze and the opportunity to hunt. We saw two bears sparring — or play-fighting — in the distance but missed seeing the action up close. Fortunately we have one more day out on the tundra and hope to see some more of this socializing behavior.

The thing is, though — the bears shouldn’t still be here. With the changing weather patterns, the ice is forming later and later. The fact that both the river and the Bay remain unfrozen is serious as it means the long fast for the bears continues. So while it was a treat to be able to see so many polar bears, it would be much better for them if they had already headed out onto the ice.

The end of our first day on the tundra was truly the icing on the top. We were treated to a magnificent sunset that escorted us all the way back to base. We haven’t seen the Northern Lights, but these colors were spectacular, turning the sky into an amazing artist’s pallette and tinging the snow and ice with pastels.

This has definitely been a trip to remember. The people of Churchill have been wonderful and the folks from Frontiers North Adventures (aka the Tundra Buggy team) absolutely outstanding. I believe Buchachon has enjoyed it every bit as much as I have.

So the only question is — what do we do for our next photo contest????

Traveling by private charter is the only way to go — no lines, no security checks and they actually feed you! We arrived in Churchill to find snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing — perfect for a polar adventure. I wonder how Buchachon is taking this, though. The climate is definitely (forgive the pun) polar opposite from his home in Thailand. I’ve peeked over his shoulder to see some of the images he’s been taking and definitely understand why he is our contest winner. I’ll try and share one or two in future posts.

A couple of folks saw a polar bear on the ice when we were landing — and we had a wonderful encounter with a red fox this afternoon. Highly inquisitive, he meandered all around us for a full five minutes, winding his way closer and closer. We also saw the kids from Project Polar Bear — and we’ll catch up with them again for interviews and polar bear watching in a couple of days. We checked out the polar bear jail — a holding facility used for bears who won’t keep their distance. This is a great program that relocates the bears thus protecting both them and the residents of Churchill.

Tomorrow will find us on the Tundra Buggy and it promises to be a great day. There are a lot of bears around waiting for the ice to come in — so far, both the river and the bay remain unfrozen. For a sneak peak of what’s in store for us, check out this video: Blog from the North.

Our group is an interesting mix of pros and enthusiasts. We have a videographer from New York and a National Geographic photographer with us — more on that in coming posts. We’ve also had some Lowepro sightings — a Flipside and SlingShot are being put to use by two of the members of our group. And, of course, Buchachon is using his new Flipside 500 Limited Edition bag (sorry, it’s not available for sale).

Stay tuned for more tales from the north…..

Today I’m headed to Winnipeg, Canada, where I’ll be meeting Buchachon Petthanya, the winner of our My Favorite Things photo contest. He’s coming all the way from Thailand — and here’s a little travel alert that made for a bit of excitement on our end. If US visas are required to visit the US, then they are now also required for any connecting flights through the US. This was something we didn’t discover until Buchachon was checking in at the airport. Argghhhhh!

Thanks to a great ticket agent at United Airlines, we averted disaster and got Buchachon rerouted through Tronto instead of Seattle. Here’s a picture of him receiving some of the other prizes from Dejchart Buranabunpot, our distributor in Thailand.

During the trip, we’ll be spending a couple of days on one of the Tundra Buggys, operated by Frontiers North Adventures. These are really cool, monster Humvees — and should give us some great photo ops with the polar bears. We’ll also be catching up with the kids from the Project Polar Bear Contest and the folks from Polar Bears International. To say that I’m excited is an understatement!

For this trip, I’m packing my Fastpack 350 — and it’s packed to the gills. I have a Canon T1i with two lenses — a 28-300mm and a 16-35mm; a Canon SD1200 IS point & shoot, an Exacti compact camcorder, a laptop, card reader, extra batteries and chargers, cords, cables and adapters — plus all my personal stuff. Did I mention before that I never quite learned how to pack light?  Amazingly enough, with the padded waistbelt, it doesn’t feel heavy at all.

So watch this space over the next few days. I’ll be sharing pictures and hopefully video of our adventure up north.

The results are in — and we were absolutely blown away by the entries we received in our My Favorite Things photo contest.

There were over 4,000 image submissions, from every continent and over 80 different countries. It’s obvious the passion for photography is alive and well all over the world. And the subject matter was equally inspiring — everything from insects to carnivores, deserts to oceans, mother nature to newborn babes.

© Buchachon Petthanya 2010

One of our judges mentioned he ran the gamut of emotions while he was reviewing the entries, saying it was “fun, moving and humbling all at the same time.  I found myself experiencing  joy at the amazing beauty of our world along with a sense of dread and urgency that we need to protect it.” You can imagine how tough it was for the entire panel of judges to finally pick just ten winners!

We’ve posted a gallery of the winning images on our web site — so please check it out — but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the top three. Our grand prize is going to Buchachon Petthanya of Thailand. His image of migrating butterflies is really stunning — true artistry! 

©Yilmaz Dincer 2010

We’re looking forward to taking him to Churchill to photograph the polar bears next month — and can’t wait to see how he does with our favorite, furry critters!

The First Runner Up is Yilmaz Dincer, a photographer from Turkey. His image of brown bears is truly amazing. Can you image being this close to the action — and still having the concentration needed to achieve this kind of composition and quality?

© Toa Zhang 2010

And then there’s Tao Zhang from China, our Second Runner Up. We’ve seen a lot of pictures of the cormorant fishermen — some of them from the top photographers in the world. But Zhang’s version offers a little different perspective. The play of light on the fisherman’s face and the rapt attention of the bird — it really tells a story.

Make sure you take a look at our gallery with all the winning images — and then start building your portfolios for our next photo contest!

If you think Red Bull is just an energy drink, think again. There are a couple of Red Bull projects we’ve participated in that are really interesting. The first is Red Bull Illume, a photo contest for action and adventure sports photographers. The second is the Red Bull Photofiles, an elite international group of Red Bull action adventure sports photographers who cover extreme sports events.

Red Bull Illume combines a photo contest with a traveling outdoor gallery. Photographers compete in 10 different catagories. A winner is selected in each category, as well as one photographer chosen as the overall grand prize winner. Lowepro is once again providing gear for the grand prize and each of the category winners and we’re really excited about this year’s contest. The countdown is on — the winners will be announced tomorrow in Dublin, Ireland with the unveiling of the exhibition and the awarding of the prizes. So, if you happen to be in or near Dublin, get on over to Front Square at Trinity College where the gallery will be on display every night through the 11th of September between 8pm and 10pm. Admission is free — and we promise, you’ll be really impressed with the images!

Another project we are involved with is the Red Bull Photofiles. The Red Bull folks sponsor some of the most exciting, most hair-raising, extreme sports competitions in the world. Everything from cliff diving and surfing to moto racing and grand prix with air racing and ski descents thrown in for good measure. They have a hand-selected team of photographers who capture all the excitement — which is where we come in. We have been supplying gear for their sponsored photogrphers, and they really put our bags to the test. Even if you aren’t into extreme sports, you’ll be in awe when you check out some of their images and stories.

Oh, and if you make it to the opening of the Red Bull Illume, look for David Flynn who manages our interestes in Ireland. If you see him, make sure you tell him Sam sends her regards!

If you own a camera of any kind, that’s all you need to enter our photo contest. You don’t have to be a pro photographer – in fact, we’re hoping to get entries reflecting all walks of life and every level of photography.

We’re really interested to see what you treasure. And there are some great prizes being offered, too. Here’s how this all started…..

In 2007, we partnered with Polar Bears International to help fund the scientific research and education programs they underwrite relating to climate change and its impact on the polar bear habitat. We feel the work they do is really important, and what we’ve learned is that the polar bear habitat is sort of a barometer for what’s going on in various ways around the world.

Now, you don’t have to be a big fan of polar bears to appreciate the fact we are losing some really wonderful parts of this planet we call home, as well as some of its inhabitants.

Our Board Chairman, Uwe Mummenhoff, was quoted many years ago: “What’s the use of making camera bags that last forever if the subject matter keeps disappearing?”

That, in a nutshell, is the premise of our photo contest. We live in an amazing world. But sadly, some of its treasures are slipping away….

Think about it this way, if you were to leave a time capsule for your children’s grandchildren, what would you like to share with them. It could be clear coastal waters with beautiful sand beaches — or it could be clear skies above the horizon. Animal, mineral, vegetable — landscape (urbal or rural), wildlife or culture. What makes you smile? What makes you sit up and take notice? What would you miss if it were to suddenly disappear?

Oh — and about the prizes….the grand prize is a trip for two to Churchill, the polar bear capital of the world, and a chance to see these majestic creatures up close and personal.

To learn more — or to enter, visit My Favorite Things. We can’t wait to see your pictures!